2012: Top 10 Most-Read Stories

Dr. Shinya Yamanaka and Sir John Gurdon at the Gladstone Institutes press conference on October 24, 2012, in conjunction with the ISSCR-Roddenberry International Symposium on Cellular Reprogramming. Photo by Gladstone Institutes/Chris Goodfellow

Marijuana made the headlines big time in 2012, not just for its legalization in a few states, but also with a highly publicized study led by UCSF and University of Alabama at Birmingham.

At last count, the UCSF story, which suggests low to moderate use of marijuana is less harmful to users’ lungs than exposure to tobacco, generated nearly 75,000 views.

That same study did mention that very heavy use of marijuana might take a toll on the lungs, but the researchers could not get reliable estimates on the effects of very heavy marijuana exposure because such smokers were relatively rare in the study population.

Other most-read stories on UCSF.edu were about the dangers of sugar, Shinya Yamanaka's Nobel Prize win for his stem-cell science discovery, sex-starved fruit flies that drink more, development of an artificial kidney and the promise of a brain cancer vaccine.

1.  Marijuana Shown to Be Less Damaging to Lungs Than Tobacco

2.  Societal Control of Sugar Essential to Ease Public Health Burden

3.  Shinya Yamanaka Wins 2012 Nobel Prize in Medicine

4.  Brain Cancer Vaccine Shows Promise

5.  How Selective Hearing Works In the Brain

6.  Deprived of Sex, Jilted Flies Drink More Alcohol

7.  UCSF Implements Policy to Make Research Papers Freely Accessible to Public

8.  UCSF Artificial Kidney Project Tapped for Accelerated FDA Program

9.  Chancellor Proposes New Approach to Secure UCSF’s Financial Future

10. UCSF Ranks Among Nation’s Best Medical, Pharmacy Schools in U.S. News Survey